A week away from the start of the season, and Arsenal’s backline is already the subject of questionable communication.
This time, it was fullback Ainsley Maitland-Miles as the orchestrator of the Gunners’ noticeable blunder against Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy bout, which the Spanish side ended up winning 2-1.
The 21-year-old, in his own box, lightly tapped the ball backwards to goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who misjudged it completely, resulting in a casual, yet comical own goal.
The goal leveled the scoreline, which was then tipped to the La Liga giants’ favor following a goal from Uruguayan ace Luis Suarez. The Gunners did manage to take the early lead in their preseason finale, however, when Mezut Ozil assisted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 36 minutes in.
Arsenal will hope for better times as they take on Newcastle on Sunday to start their Premier League campaign.
69' ⚽️🎉 GOOOOOOOOOOAAL!
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 4, 2019
🎁 Maitland-Miles in his own net.#GamperFest FCB 1-1 ARS 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8P1aoItOIN